In this week’s Round-Up, we are delighted to share some of the many links to 1 Billion Rising events which took place on February 14. Women and girls, men and boys, as well as survivors of violence and their supporters rose in countries all around the world and danced for justice. Performer Pink supported and participated in the event as did many people in Australia, including the Chief of the Australian Army Lieutenant General David Morrison.
Around the Country
- On the issue of forced and underage marriage, Senator the Hon. Michaelia Cash, the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women writes ” The issue of forced and underage marriage is not confined to any one race, religion or culture. And the stark reality is it is happening here in Australian suburbs“.
- The murder of 11 year old Luke Batty by his father has inspired deep reflection on the relationship between domestic violence and Australian society
- A Queensland man has been charged with stabbing to death his step-daughter
- Tickets are now available for the launch of Women’s Legal Services NSW’s new campaign and mobile website ‘Speak Up to End Violence Against Women’
- In Victoria, new funding has been announced for community-led initiatives to prevent and respond to family violence in Aboriginal communities
- AWAVA has supported a letter written by Collective Shout which calls for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to revoke rapper Eminem’s visa to enter Australia because of his consistent violently sexist speech
- New South Wales has unveiled its new ‘It Stops Here’ campaign to support victims and survivors of domestic violence
- Growing numbers of reports are being received of ‘digital abuse’ from around Australia
- A new study has found that Australia and New Zealand have very high rates of non-partner sexual violence against women compared to the global average
- Jenna Price writes “We are two years into the Department of Social Services’ National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children. The end date is 2022.I am not at all sure we can wait that long“.
- On the issue of men’s engagement with preventing violence against women, Clementine Ford writes “Men, it’s not enough to be ‘decent‘”
Around the World
- Supermodel Waris Dirie’s latest book tells the story of how she has worked to prevent Safa Idriss Nour, the young actress who played Dirie on film, from being subjected to female genital mutilation
- Naomi Wolf writes that we could learn from the way violence against women is being tackled in India
- In Lebanon, work is beginning to question concepts of masculinity and how gender perceptions can lead to gender based violence
- The First Lady of Kenya, Margaret Kenyatta, has emphasised the importance of empowering women when working to eliminate gender based violence
- In the United States, the Department of Justice is considering taking action against a County Attorney’s Office in response to their poor handling of violence against women
- In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai orders changes to draft law amid fears for Afghan women
- Leila Hanafi and Sarah Alaoui write about current progress and challenges in “[t]he journey to protect Morocco’s women”
**Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of AWAVA and are included as items of interest only